Hail To The King

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 8:57am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Tisar Zemel & Balek The Butcher [Deceased]
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:00pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: The Carnage

A Mission Post by Captain Nycolas Temple & Balek The Butcher & Tisar Zemel
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: The Carnage
Timeline:
Sun Feb 4th, 2018 @ 4:56am


Walking through the squalid, tiny corridors of the Carnage, Nyx Temple was doing his best to observe his surroundings and identify key locations - without appearing as if he was seeing the Ravager craft for the first time. There were many burrows and offshoots from the main corridor, as if the layout was entirely unplanned and built as they needed it. Walls were uncovered metal grates with exposed wires and pipes everywhere, and it was clear that the trip through the Dark Matter had not been as smooth as they hoped - equipment, furniture, and entire fittings had been tossed about as they traversed the gravitational storms, something Nyx remembered all too well.

The two were following the Carnage's chief pilot, Dekker, a short but grumpy Kzinti male, who stomped ahead of them both with purpose.

"Balek is in a fine mood." He commented without stopping. "He thinks we'll take the Starfleet ship and that planet in one foul swoop."

Nyx tried to mimic the pilot's strut, "As long as we get paid. I already risked my life today and we got nothin' for it."

Temple was eagerly trying to maintain his Ravager act. He hadn't planned on them being brought to Balek so soon; he had hoped to have a little more time exploring the Carnage and perfecting his character first. But when Dekker called for Tisar to go with him to see the Butcher, there was no way he was going to let that happen. He had promised to guard Tisar from the Butcher and it was his fault the former prisoner was now back on this ship of hell. He would do whatever he could to protect his new friend and crew-mate.

Dekker sighed noticeably, "You're about to be richer than you can fathom, my war brother."

Tisar sighed as well, following along with Nyx. "Always about money... money money money money... I used to be a soldier. People did things then because they were loyal. Not because they were getting paid." It seemed a simple enough statement, but there was a darkness to his tone. "Sometimes it is payment enough to be on the side that is winning."

"And that will be us!" Dekker cried, pumping his clawed hand into the air. "Just as soon as we finish our business."

Nyx had to step over a waylaid exhaust pipe that was slowly spewing out what he hoped was only water, before returning to the conversation, "The Federation ship? Is it alone?"

Dekker shrugged, "Looks like."

"So it's the same one that went through the dark matter?" Nyx questioned, trying to appear nonchalant.

"The what?" Dekker asked, turning briefly to give Nyx a short scowl.

"The nebula." Nyx replied sardonically, as if explaining it to a child.

"Yeah." Was all Dekker said in response as they kept moving.

Tisar looked over at Nyx. "I only said he was a powerful man, not that he had taste in companions. Did he move his office? Or is there a new scenic route?" He was mostly saying these things to annoy Dekker. He felt it was his job at the moment to keep the helmsman distracted with pettiness.

There was a slow hiss from the Kzinti. "While you were busy crashing on some stupid planet, we had to fly through the fracking nebula. So yeah, things are bit messy right now. You're lucky Balek wants to see you, or I'd have shot you both for your cowardice. Imagine just disappearing after making contact with us, when Balek told you to come through the nebula yourselves."

Nyx shared a sidewise glance with Tisar. The Scout had made contact, and had passed on the details of what happened on Salvaxe. Which could only mean that they would attempt to attack the planet once more. What Nyx couldn't understand is why they were still hunting the Pandora if they already knew about Salvaxe? 'Could Balek really be that mad?' He wondered.

“Take the vessel... and the planet?” Nyx repeated aloud, fishing for information.

“Yeah.” Dekker replied. “Seeing as the hunting party was thwarted by the planet’s defences, Balek came up with a genius plan. We’ll see how effective they are when there’s a whole Starfleet ship crashing into their planet!” He laughed menaically to himself.

Nyx could barely contain his rage at the thought; they were going to use the Pandora as a battering ram to crush the Mendazian’s defences, possibly even the cities. Thousands would be killed, Salvaxe would be unable to stop the full assault of the Ravagers. He looked to Tisar again, bewilderment in his eye.

Tisar shook his head in amazement. It wasn't an obvious movement, but it was still there and when his gaze met Nyx's that pretty much said it all. The Butcher was very mad. Completely mad. Barking mad. Yet somehow, still dangerous. Of course they did say that some of the most brillart are also the most insane, but Tisar wasn't sure that applied here.

Finally stopping in the corridor, Dekker turned to the others with his now trademark sneer. Nyx could see from behind him there was a larger opening with two thick metal doors, the word "Bridge" scrawled on in sloppy painted letters. Dekker meanwhile stood with his furry arms crossed, looking expectantly between the two and a smaller door next to them.

"Well?" He hissed. "I ain't opening it for you."

"Mm," Tisar made a dismissive noise. "I take it I will not be receiving a mint on my pillow either..." He stepped forward and opened the door, holding it open for Nyx, his eyes on Dekker.

Dekker gave a curious glance as Tisar held the door for Nyx, but his face turned into its usual sneer by the time the two were entering the room.

Sitting reclined on his bed, Balek was busy playing with a wooden object in his hand when the trio entered. Dekker pushed past Tisar and Nyx and immediately dropped to his knees in front of his leader.

"Your Majesty." Dekker said, eyes to the floor. "I have brought you two of our hunting party."

Balek barely grunted, his folds of fat stomach hiding all but the top of his face as he remained laid back, and there was a consistent wheeze of his breathing apparatus. Nyx gave Tisar a look and ever so subtly rolled his eyes, before likewise dropping to his knees.

"Your Majesty, we bring news from the planet. And of Gav'Roche." Nyx proclaimed.

Tisar did not kneel. He had not kneeled and he wasn't about to start now unless it was demanded of him. He did however bow his head and avert his eyes, mostly because he didn't want to look. The man disgusted him to his core. He cleared his throat rather loudly.

Balek grunted and he reached is free hand up in the air. Dekker immediately ran over and grabbed hold of the Butcher's arm and used all his strength to pull the weighty Ravager King upwards. He wheezed heavily once more at the sudden activity and looked to them both with a disgusted snarl. Nyx slightly lifted his head, long enough to see the wooden object Balek that was holding appeared to be a homemade crossbow.

Balek saw what Nyx had been looking at and laughed. "Isn't it beautiful?" He exclaimed, waving the crossbow around, "Dekker made it for me from the parts of Tisar's ship. I believe this was his Captain's chair. Or parts of his Captain, I don't recall." He laughed loudly.

"Don't require charging or nothing." Dekker boasted, standing by his King like a loyal lap dog. "And you don't get your hands messy. Has a range of five metres."

"Wonderful." Balek repeated. He clicked his fingers and without pausing, Dekker reached for a long, rusty sharpened piece of metal sitting in a pile near by. Balek took the piece and began to load it into his crossbow. "Tell me then, Tisar. How did you manage to survive that planet?"

"To be honest, your Majesty. I'm not quite sure. I'm afraid that your shuttle was in worse repair then I suspected and I whole thing froze up on me. I received several nasty shocks in the process and then I believe that I was shot from the sky. I was unconscious when it landed. I'm afraid the landing was rather hard and the ship did not fare well. When I woke up, I was aboard this man's ship." He gestured to Nyx.

"And you are?" Balek asked casually. He indicated for Nyx to stand and he did so immediately.

"Griffin." Nyx replied, managing to hide his smile at the name. "I was on Gav'Roche's hunting ship. That coward went back to the planet to surrender to the Federation. I killed him, rescued Tisar, and came back to you, Your Majesty."

"Ahh, what a loyal little war boy you are." Balek smirked. The smirk turned into a laugh, and then Dekker started laughing as well.

Without so much of a blink of an eye, Balek turned the crossbow towards Nyx and fired the metal shard straight into his leg. Nyx felt the hot sting of pain as he fell backwards, holding his hands to the wound. He looked up to see the metal had pierced straight through, a red pool started to spread across his pants.

"Tisar." Balek sighed listlessly. "Why do you lie?"

Tisar inwardly winced, outwardly he showed no sign of caring at all if Nyx got shot. He did glance at the over at the Federation Captain for a moment. "Lie to you, your Majesty? I'm afraid that you've got me there. Why would I lie to you?" He asked in a way that suggested that perhaps the Butcher was trying to tell him the answer.

Balek thought for a moment before letting out a laugh, he sauntered over to Tisar and placed his bulbous arm around the Cardassian's shoulders. He smelt of unwashed flesh and old food. "Ah, it's okay Tisar. You can relax now. Our little gambit has paid off. You have delivered me the Starfleet vessel, and it's Captain, exactly as planned."

From on the ground, Nyx had managed to slow down his breathing, trying to will his mind off the searing pain and back to the situation at hand. When he heard Balek's words, he looked up to the Butcher and Tisar and shot them both an icy glare. 'Could it really be true?' He thought, 'Had Tisar been playing me all along?'

"Mmm... was indeed rather successful, your Majesty. You are a very clever man," Tisar said carefully. "Even I am surprised by its success."

"You son of a - " Nyx started to hiss but was quickly silenced by a firm boot from Dekker. The Ravager pilot quickly rolled Nyx over to his back and searched around his jacket - pulling out the two phasers he had hidden inside, and the small knife he'd kept by his belt. Dekker quickly pocketed them as Nyx gave him a deadly glance. "I'm going to take them back very soon."

Balek smirked at Tisar's apparent reveal and it’s effect on the Captain. To the Butcher, playing with the Starfleet officer was just as fun as killing him, and having him feel the sting of betrayal before his death made it all the more victorious.

"Dekker, return to the Bridge." Balek smiled, "Let the boys have their fun with the other intruders from the Pandora."

The Kzinti bowed obediently to Balek before turning on his heel and strolling out another door on to the Bridge. Nyx brought himself up on his elbows and looked down again at the wound on his leg. He tried to scan around for a weapon, anything, that he could use.

Unconcerned, Balek rested against a bulkhead, loading another rusty arrow into his bow. "Tell me, Tisar, did he give you the hard sell on how glorious and benevolent the Federation are? Did he show you all their fancy technology that has only ever made them soft and weak? Why hunt when you can have all your food magically appear in front of you." He spat as he spoke. "How pathetic."

Tisar's face was blank. "Of course, your Majesty. The Federation is all about the hard sell. To be honest, I find them to be quite hypocritical. They talk about all this non-interference... and yet somehow they always seem to interfere. Really amazing at how that works." He turned a little so he could see both Balek and Nyx and took several steps toward Balek. "It makes you wonder what their real agenda is..."

The Butcher snorted. "I care not. Thanks to you, Tisar, we now have the ability to take their ship and use it to raid the planet of all it's riches. And I will be King of the Inconnu Expanse!"

"Of course. No problem." His tone was flat and uncaring. He took another step toward the Butcher. He seemed to slowly be edging his way away from Nyx and closer to Balek.

"Just one last matter to resolve." Balek sighed, as he held up the crossbow to the Cardassian. "Deal with this fallen captain, Tisar. And we will parade him on our hull as the Carnage overcomes the Pandora."

Tisar's eyes widened just a little bit. "Me, sir?" He looked at the crossbow and then at Balek, then back at the crossbow. "You would do me that honor? Me, your Majesty?"

"Of course." Balek replied slowly, never taking his eyes off Tisar. "As a Ravager, you should claim your prize."

Nyx groaned on the floor. He sat upright fully and placed on hand on the metal protuberance. It was the only weapon around him, he knew what he had to do. "Tisar, you traitor!" he shouted, trying to get him to come back closer. "We would have given you everything. Safety, protection, your own establishment."

Tisar laughed, his look at little gleeful, the sound was cold and hollow. "You think that's all I wanted? You humans really are pathetic and weak. So easily played. Just a little sob story can really, really get you guys worked up." He took the crossbow from Balek. It was a crude contraption. He would have to make sure his aim was good. He lifted the weapon, feeling the weight of it and leveled it at Nyx.

"You were going to teach my daughter music." Nyx landed the emotional blow, his eyes a mix of sadness and hatred.

Tisar nodded. "I do indeed remember saying that."

"You better hope you don't miss." Nyx growled, trying to prompt him to come closer. "Because it'll be the last thing you do."

"Don't worry. I'm actually a very good shot." He steadied the crossbow against his shoulder and put a finger on the trigger. It was a sensitive mechanism for something so crudely built. "Say goodbye, Captain..."

Nyx stared at Tisar, trying to keep his eyes fixed on the traitorous Cardassian as he subtly shifted his weight back to his left hand side. He couldn’t think about his family, or his daughter, he just had to figure out how to survive. He could tell Tisar's aim was good but if he could move slightly, have the metal sliver hit anywhere else but a major organ or artery he was still in with a chance to survive and strike back. He gripped the metal already in his leg and slowly began to lift it out, where he then could try to attack Tisar with it. He just needed one more moment to enact his plan...

Balek sat back and watched with a pleased smirk on his face, knowing that the death of the Captain would be a considerable loss to the Pandora before their battle. And once the Pandora was theirs, so was Salvaxe. Glory, power, and riches he could only ever dream of would all be in his hands, and it would all come from this beautiful execution. He licked his lips in anticipation, knowing that his kingdom was a mere moment away...

"BALEK!" Dekker cried as he suddenly reentered the room, breaking the tension.

"What?!" Balek growled disappointedly. "Why are you interrupting?"

"It's the Pandora, your Majesty." Dekker replied. "They're... hailing us?"

Though annoyed at first, a smirk grew across Balek's face and he reached out to tap Tisar on the shoulder. "I have a better idea, Tisar. Let's do this in front of the Captain's crew. It will be the opening act to our glorious victory."

Tisar felt woozy. It took a moment for it to even sink in what Balek had said. He nodded and grinned wickedly at the Butcher, lowering the crossbow slowly. "That sounds like a most excellent plan, your Majesty."

The Butcher began to walk outside and he casually pointed down to Nyx. "Bring him."

"You really are pathetic," Tisar said at Nyx, softly.

"You'll have to carry me." Nyx retorted with a sneer.

From Dekker's interruption, Temple had gained a slight reprieve from death and he was not going to waste his moment now - he would either end Tisar for his treachery or take him hostage. Either way, he was not going to die on this ship today. He was feeling the adrenaline in his body now, it was taking over from the pain. But if he kept pretending to be mortally injured he could potentially catch the Ravagers by surprise. It was all he had. He could only hope that if he failed, at least the other members of the Away team could distrust the Carnage enough for the Pandora to attack.

As soon as Tisar got close enough, Nyx pulled the shard the rest of the way out of his leg and took a desperate swipe at the Cardassian, anger and ferocity now in his eyes.

Tisar was not a stranger to combat and their close call had heightened his senses. He dodged quickly, but not quite quick enough as the tip of bloody weapon dug a gouge across left cheek from his ear to the corner of his mouth. He gasped and for one moment his harded gaze faltered, then he grabbed for the wrist of the hand holding the weapon, in a vice-like grip and aimed to kick Nyx in the injured leg, hard.

Nyx fell back again, hard against the floor, trying not to show his pain though is teeth were gripped together like a vice. He breathed heavily through his clenched jaw and glared back at Tisar, pleased to have least made his mark - even if he had been forced to drop his only weapon. He appeared to resign himself, though he really knew it was pointless to keep attacking while he was at the disadvantage.

"He's got spirit." Balek commented flatly, as he stopped to watch the brief encounter. "I'll give him that." He sighed and continued into the Bridge. "Now hurry up, Tisar."

"I have to bring him to you, kill him and carry him? This is starting to sound like a bit much," Tisar complained.

Dekker followed the Butcher out onto the Bridge and he whinged, "Hey why does he get to kill the Captain?"

Nyx leaned back and sighed, he looked down to his leg and groaned. "At least let me tie this up. I'll be no good to you if I pass out from blood loss." He snarked and didn't wait for an answer before tearing off his jacket sleeve and wrapping it around his leg. "There. Now you can carry me."

Tisar yanked the human captain up and then over one of his shoulders. Nyx was actually quite a bit heavier then he looked, but the Cardassian managed. He didn't say anything in the way of any sort of explaination for his behavior and stomped after the Butcher to the Bridge.

OFF